CONTRACT FOR CYCLICAL REASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY FOR PROPERTY TAX PURPOSES HANCOCK COUNTY, IND.

SPECIFICATIONS

CONTRACT FOR CYCLICAL REASSESSMENT

OF REAL PROPERTY FOR PROPERTY TAX PURPOSES HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA

HANCOCK COUNTYASSESSOR

Cindy Roberts

111 American Legion Place Ste #204

Greenfield, IN 46140

REQUEST FOR BIDS

FOR CYCLICAL REASSESSMENT

OF REAL PROPERTY FOR PROPERTY TAX PURPOSES HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA

Due Date : August 4, 2025

The Hancock County Assessor (herein “Assessor”) is engaged in “Cyclical Reassessment,” a fourphase process by which all real property parcels in Hancock County are reassessed over a four-year period, which will commence in 2027 and shall be completed by January 1, 2030. This process must be completed in accordance with the Department of Local Government Finance (herein “Department”) 50 IAC 27, IC 6-1.1-4-4.2, and IC 6-1.1-4-21.4. This specific bid is for all four phases of this process.

Where the word “Contractor” is used herein, it shall mean a Professional Appraiser as the term is

defined in IC 6-1.1-4-17(c). A Contractor must be an Indiana Certified Level III Assessor/Appraiser under IC 6-1.1-31.7 in order to be eligible to submit a bid and be certified as a professional Con- tractor by the Department. Any Contractor wishing to submit a bid shall submit the information requested as specified below. Contractors must not have filed any real property appeals against the

Assessor since the 2023-2025 reassessment and is prohibited from such activity for the contract period and for (2) years following completion of all work.

The Assessor is to provide all documents for assessment purposes, including but not limited to parcel maps, GIS, aerial maps, plat maps, property record cards, new construction permits, et al.

Bids shall be reviewed based on all criteria including adherence requirements, proposal pricing, and company qualifications per the attached “Bid Evaluation” sheet (Exhibit 1). Bidding Contractors must submit a COMPLETE RESPONSE to all requirements set forth in this Request for Bid (RFB), otherwise, the bid will be rejected. Bidding Contractors must complete the Cost Containment Sum- mary (Exhibit 2) and include a maximum total cost of services for the services detailed in the RFB. All conforming bids will be considered and scored as long as they meet the standards contained in this RFB. Bidding Contractors interested in providing these technical services are invited to view all appropriate information, which will assist them in preparing their bid.

All bids will be reviewed by the County Commissioners (herein “County”). The County and suc- cessful bidder shall implement a contract acceptable to the Department of Local Government Fi- nance (herein “Department”).

The prices that are submitted on each bid proposal must be guaranteed for a period of sixty (60) days from delivery of the bid.

The cost incurred in preparing the proposals or any other matter by the Contractor in responding to this RFB may not be charged to the County.

The contents of the proposal of the successful bidder will be considered as contractual obligations. Failure to meet those obligations may result in cancellation of the Contract. The Contract will in- clude the provisions of IC 6-1.1-4-19.5.

The County reserves the right to reject any and all proposals or letters of agreement received in response to this request, and is not necessarily bound to award the Contract solely on the basis of this request, or pay for any information solicited or obtained.

Format for RFB – Each finalized contract proposal should be submitted in the following order:

• Letter of transmittal, Work Plan and Cost Containment Summary
• Detailed final contract proposal, which incorporates these specifications
• Staffing Compliance Summary
• Company Qualifications Package
• Certificate of Insurance

Bids will be accepted at the following place, date and time

PLACE: Hancock County Auditor

111 American Legion Place, Ste #217

Greenfield, IN 46140

DATE: August 4, 2025

TIME: 4pm

The bids will be opened at the Hancock County Commissioners Meeting on  August   5, 2025 . One

origina l and two copies of the bid shall be submitted in a sealed envelope, which is clearly marked “Bid for the Cyclical Reassessment Contract – Hancock County Assessor”.

Any bid received after the stated date and time may be returned to the Contractor unopened. This applies to bids sent by mail, as well as those which are hand delivered. The County may elect to conduct interviews with any/all Contractors subsequent to the bidding process. Contractors will be contacted by phone or email as applicable.

Any bidding Contractor may withdraw a bid by written request at any time prior to the opening of bids.

Facsimile bids are not acceptable and telephone or facsimile amendments or withdrawals will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Negligence on the part of a Contractor in preparing the bid confers no right for the withdrawal of the bid after it has been opened.

All eligible bids submitted shall be carefully evaluated by the Assessor. The Assessor shall re- view all eligible bids, as detailed in Exhibit 1, and score such bids accordingly. Each bid will be evaluated on three criteria.

First, each bid must “pass” the adherence requirements of these bid specifications in order to proceed to the second criteria (See Exhibit 1). Second, the bid pricing score is based on method- ology used by the Indiana Department of Administration (See Exhibit 2). The bid pricing score will be determined with the following equation:

(Lowest Bid Price ÷ Individual Bid Price) x 40

Third, each bid will receive an overall score per Exhibit 1 based on each Contractor’s qualifica- tions, experience, work history, etc. (See Exhibit 3). The Assessor reserves the right to accept or reject any bid and waive any irregularities in the bids. All bids may be held for a period not to exceed 30 days, during which time no bid may be withdrawn.

The objective of this project is that the Contractor will rely on sufficient facts, information, and data, and analysis, in order to aid in the determination of the assessed value of each parcel of real property in Hancock County for the Cyclical Reassessment, as well as conduct annual adjust-

ments, ratio studies, and assist in the appeals process. This will be for all phases of the 2026- 2030 cyclical reassessment.

The Contractor must be fully aware of all laws regarding the assessment of real property in the State of Indiana. The Contractor shall comply with these laws and provide a comprehensive cy- clical reassessment to the County.

The Contractor shall understand the confidential nature of appraisal data.

All work performed under the final contract must be organized, supervised and reviewed by an Indiana Certified Level III Assessor/Appraiser. Additionally, an Indiana Certified Level III As- sessor/Appraiser must personally fulfill the following roles and duties: (1) Final value recom- mendations, (2) Subjective parcel and neighborhood ratings review, (3) Statistical analysis for neighborhood factoring (Trending), (4) Ratio Study completion and submission, (5) On-site project supervisor, (6) All commercial, industrial, utility and exempt assessments, (7) all real property appeal hearings and valuation recommendations involving commercial and industrial property, (8) all commercial and industrial new construction assessments.

The parcels to be reviewed by the Contractor under the final contract are limited to the follow- ing classes of real property: Residential, Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, Exempt, and Utility.

Administrative personnel employed by the Contractor may be used to fulfill the following du- ties: (1) General office duties only.

Parcel counts are as follows, for a total of _41,699_parcels:

Residential (32,497), Agricultural (6,426), Commercial (1,298), Industrial (312), Utility (1)

and Exempt (2,165).

The Contractor shall be responsible the following activities:

1. Annual Adjustments and Ratio Study (2027-2030), which shall include:

• Sales Disclosure Verification & Validation: The Assessor shall review all sales disclo- sures to determine validity for use in reassessment and trending. To the extent the Asses- sor identifies properties requiring additional review, the Contractor shall assist the Asses- sor with validation review and site inspection per the Department’s guidelines.
• Trend Land Values: Provide trended land values for all property classes, except for ag- ricultural farmland and exempt property. Supporting analysis and documentation shall in- clude, at a minimum, analyzing vacant and improved sales for the appropriate time period and in the event that insufficient sales exist, expanding the time period and making appro- priate time adjustments.
• Neighborhood Stratification: Stratify and re-delineate commercial, industrial, residential and agricultural neighborhoods by locational and physical characteristics, and/or other cri- teria as may be mutually acceptable. Generally rental homes, condominiums, waterfront and water view shall be accorded unique neighborhoods. Site visits shall be used to assist the Contractor in this process as necessary.
• Trend Residential & Agricultural Improvements: The Contractor shall perform resi- dential/Agricultural annual adjustments. Stratification of residential and agricultural neigh- borhoods shall be performed, and the Contractor shall ultimately measure the market value- in-use of such properties. The Contractor shall input such values to the Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (herein “CAMA”) system and provide the means and methodology to do so.

• Conduct Ratio Study in 2027-2030 inclusive: Conduct an assessment ratio study for all classes of properties, including, but not limited to, residential, commercial, industrial, ag- ricultural and utility property. The Contractor shall work with the DLGF to obtain approval of such ratio studies. No additional billings for this work shall be acceptable.
• Annual Assessment Report & Equalization: Following Department approval of the an- nual ratio study, the Contractor shall provide to the Assessor a detailed report of assessment changes by parcel, property class, tax district, township or other criteria as deemed neces- sary by the Assessor. The purpose of such reports is to determine the validity of each assessment as well as the relationship between assessments and adjust accordingly. For all commercial and industrial parcels (improved and unimproved), the Contractor shall con- duct equalization studies by property class (office, retail, warehouse, etc.) during the reas- sessment cycle. These studies shall be provided to the Assessor with findings and recom- mendations. For property classes subject to such equalization, the Contractor shall provide a detailed parcel-level report showing the impact of recommended changes.

Perform a physical inspection (site visit, field review, or use of aerial or street view pic- tures) of all parcels for Phase 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Cyclical Reassessment. For every year of the contract, Contractor will inspect approximately 25% of all parcels, such that all par- cels are inspected no later than January 1, 2026. The Contractor will verify property infor- mation with an external (and internal inspection as necessary and permissible) inspection of all the major buildings, showing all additions, garages, and appendages with dimensions and necessary identification on the property record card. Contractor will capture photos of each property with physical changes. Each property record card shall be compared to the actual property for correctness and completeness of information. Any errors or omissions shall be corrected so to arrive at an accurate final market value-in-use of each parcel.

The Contractor shall inspect the records of the Assessor in preparation for this bid. No actual overages or differences in parcel counts to be collected or reviewed for the cyclical reassessment for any class of property shall be billable to the County. Prior to the inspec- tion of property, the Contractor and Assessor shall develop and agree upon the county- specific Reassessment Guidelines addressing the particular standards by which various im- provements shall be evaluated. This shall address various improvements, occupancy cri- teria and yard item standards.

Data entry will generally be completed by the Assessor with assistance from the Contrac- tor as to commercial and industrial property classes as necessary.

Depreciation and cost tables shall be determined by the Department and made available from the County’s CAMA system. The Contractor shall provide necessary market ad- justment factors to estimate a final market value-in-use.

All measurements shall be re-checked both in the field and using available aerial picto- graphic tools at the Assessor’s discretion. All data collections will be conducted between the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. on any day, Monday through Saturday, excluding legal holidays.

The Contractor shall provide to the Assessor all Department-required cyclical status re- ports.

shall be returned to the Assessor after completion. The Contractor shall complete its review of such parcels within the following deadlines:

The Contractor shall also provide unlimited days of legal support for all existing and fu- ture real property appeals during the contract period. This activity shall include repre- senting the Assessor at IBTR hearings, Indiana Tax Court, and Indiana Supreme Court. These functions shall be provided by Indiana licensed attorneys.

The Contractor is not responsible for any technical support or legal assistance regarding personal property returns and appeals. However, the Contractor shall review all real and personal property abatement claims, calculations and similar materials, advising the As- sessor on the compliance status of each such claim.

Phone, long distance phone charges, training manuals, and general office supplies shall be supplied by the Contractor. Any additional expenses and liabilities resulting there from shall be incurred by the Contractor without obligation to the Assessor. Costs associated with appeal hearings such as the engagement of third-party expert witnesses, including written appraisal reports and hourly fees for hearing preparation and testimony; court costs, including but not limited to court reporter fees; and copying charges are the sole responsibility of the County and the Assessor.

No subcontractors shall be used in the performance of the final Contract. This limitation shall

not apply to the purchase of standard supplies, raw materials and computer systems.

The Assessor shall be the Contract Representative to serve as the primary contact person for the Contract.

The Contractor shall execute the work plan that was submitted by the Assessor and approved by the Department of Local Government Finance according to the provisions of IC 6-1.1-4-4.2. Upon signing the contract, the work plan shall become incorporated by reference into the final Contract.

The Contractor shall be required to provide written progress reports to the Assessor in a form reasonably prescribed by the Assessor or the Department. The reports must include the number of parcels being reviewed by the Contractor and the status of the work being done. The Assessor may require additional information be included in the reports. The Contractor shall submit the reports to the Contract Representative each month on or before the 10th day of the month, or other schedule as mutually agreeable. The Assessor may at all times inspect the records of the Contrac- tor to verify the progress and evaluate the quality of work performed. The Assessor may accom- pany the Contractor's personnel in their assigned duties to assure the Contractor's adherence with contractual specifications and approved procedures. The Contractor shall extend its full coopera- tion to the Assessor by providing access to all program related records, and by making personnel available upon request for the purpose of monitoring quality, performance, and progress.

The Contractor shall be paid as follows:

Within the first ten (10) days of each month, the Contractor may submit a claim for payment for work done under the Contract during that preceding month or other time period as mutually agree- able. The amount of each such payment is subject to approval by the Assessor. The County and the Contractor will agree upon an invoicing format that both parties are satisfied with prior to any payments being made by the County. Payment will be made to the Contractor within forty-five

(45) days after approval by the County.

If all work is not completed under the final Contract by the completion date specified in the Con- tract, then all further payments will be suspended at that time until all work has been completed. Upon certification by the Assessor that work has been completed, payment of the suspended amount will be made to the Contractor within thirty (30) days after that certification.

Payments due under the final Contract shall be reduced by the amount of ONE HUNDRED DOL- LARS ($100.00) per business day, for each business day that any part of the work assigned to the Contractor, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays remains incomplete after the due date specified under the final Contract.

The final determination of assessed value is and shall remain the responsibility of the County.

Pursuant to IC 22-9-1-10, the Contractor, if any, shall not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment, to be employed in the performance of the final Contract, with respect to the individual’s hire, tenure, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of the

individual’s race, color, religion, sex, handicap, national origin or ancestry. Breach of this cove- nant may be regarded as a material breach of Contract.

By submitting a bid, the Contractor hereby certifies that the Contractor is not engaged in invest- ment activities in Iran. See IC 5-22-16.5.

The Contractor affirms under the penalties of perjury that it does not knowingly employ any un- authorized alien.

The Contractor shall enroll in and verify the work eligibility status of all his/her/its newly hired employees through the E-Verify program as defined in IC 22-5-1.7-3. The Contractor is not re- quired to participate should the E-Verify program cease to exist. Additionally, the Contractor is not required to participate if the Contractor is self-employed and does not employ any employees.

The Contractor shall not knowingly employ or contract with any unauthorized alien. The Con- tractor shall not retain an employee or contract with a person that the Contractor subsequently learns is an unauthorized alien.

The County may terminate for default if the Contractor fails to cure a breach of this provision no later than thirty (30) days after being notified by the County.

Whenever the Contractor or the Assessor have knowledge that any actual or potential situation is delaying or threatens to delay the timely performance of the final Contract, they shall within 10 days provide written notice of the delay to the other party by certified mail, return receipt re- quested, including all relevant information with respect to the actual/ potential cause of delay.

The County may terminate the final Contract, if the Assessor or the County determines that the Contractor has failed to make satisfactory progress toward completion. In such case, the County will transmit a Termination Notice of the fault to the Contractor by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least thirty (30) days prior to the proposed termination date, and the Contractor shall

be given thirty (30) days in which to remedy the condition which has caused the Termination Notice, or suffer termination. In the event of termination or suspension, the Contractor shall be entitled to receive payment (at the amounts and rates set forth herein, or if not specifically set forth in this Agreement, at the Contractor’s standard or published rates) for all services, software, licenses and/or bonding delivered by the Contractor up to the effective date of the termination or suspension, as the case may be, plus such other charges as may be agreed upon by the parties.

The Contractor will be acting in an individual capacity and not as an agent, employee, partner, joint venturer or associate of the County or the Assessor. The employees or agents of the Con- tractor shall not be deemed or construed to be the employees or agents of the County or the As- sessor for any purpose whatsoever.

Except as provided below, the Contractor agrees to defend and save harmless the County and all agents, officers and employees of those, against all claims, demands, payments, suits, actions, recovery, and judgments of every kind and description arising out of the performance of this Agreement, for personal injury or property damage brought or recovered against it by reason of any negligent action or omission of the Contractor, its agents, or employees and with respect to the degree to which the County are free from negligence on the part of itself, it employees and agents.

Neither party shall be liable to the other for consequential, indirect or incidental damages, includ- ing, but not limited to, loss of tax revenue or claims related to valuation of property, even if due to the negligence or other fault of the party released.

In any event, the Contractor’s liability for damages (except for damage to real or personal prop- erty or personal injury as provided above) under any theory of liability or form of action, includ- ing negligence, shall not exceed the total amount paid by the County to the Contractor under this agreement.

The Contractor shall carry Public Liability Insurance in the amount of $1,000,000 including pro- tection for bodily injury and property damage with a combined single limit of $1,000,000 and

$500,000 for each occurrence only to the extent of the obligation assumed by the Contractor under this Agreement. County shall be name as an insured party under said insurance.

The Contractor shall also maintain Automobile Liability Insurance providing limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence, and the Contractor shall provide Worker’s Compensation Insurance. The Worker’s Compensation Insurance shall provide coverage under the Compensation Act of Indi- ana and shall provide employer’s liability insurance in the amount of $1,000,000.

As part of the bid packet, Certificates of Insurance shall be supplied to the County by the Con- tractor detailing the above coverages prior to the commencement of the work. This certificate will be issued by a carrier authorized to do business within the State of Indiana.

Contractor hereby covenants and agrees to make a good faith effort to provide and maintain during the term of the final Contract a drug-free workplace, and that it will give written notice to the County within ten (10) days after receiving actual notice that an employee of the Contrac- tor has been convicted of a criminal drug violation occurring in Contractor’s workplace.

will take all steps necessary to remain certified as a “Professional Contractor” under IC 6- 1.1-31.7 through the term of the Contract.

The Contractor shall be responsible for the delivery of the following to the Assessor upon com- pletion of the project.

1. All copies of parcel maps, property record cards, and worksheets.
2. All material and documentation used in improvement- pricing phase including all support- ing data.
3. Parcel characteristics and assessment data in a manner and format acceptable to the DLGF.

The above specifications will be incorporated in the final Contract. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of the final Contract and this Specification these Specifications shall con- trol.

Additional compensation that may be due the Contractor as the result of services requested by the County that are beyond the scope of this agreement will be invoiced in the month subse- quent to the month in which the services were provided. Any additional services must be pre- approved in writing by the County.

Payment of billings is due within forty-five (45) days after the date of each billing. Failure of the County to make payment when due shall entitle the Contractor, in addition to its other rights

and remedies, to suspend, temporarily, further performance of this Agreement without liability.

Exhibit 2

Hancock County Cost Containment Summary 2027-2030 Cyclical Reassessment & Related Services

Maximum Cost of Service

Activity or Function total 2027-2030  Sales Disclosure Validation / Verification

Annual Trending / Ratio Study of All Property

Classes

Field Reviews of All Parcels in Specified Property Classes

(includes all annual assessment reports and equaliza- tion studies

& data entry as applicable)

New Construction for All Parcels

including data entry as applicable

Unlimited Appeal Support, Form Preparation & Mailing

(Includes Preliminary Hearings, PTABOA, & State Sup- port)

Unlimited Legal Support

(Includes PTABOA Attendance, All Existing & Future State Appeals & Exemption Review and Filings)

Continuing Education Courses

Maximum Total Cost

Exhibit 3

Staffing Compliance Summary